OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between serum testosterone levels and the plaque formation of the carotid artery in a population-based cohort of independently living healthy women above 60 years of age.

METHODSAnalysis of the healthy elders from a population-based cohort study in 9 communities of Beijing. Carotid intima-media thickness and atherosclerotic plaques were determined ultrasonographically. Serum testosterone levels were measured by immunoassay. The data were analyzed with ANOVA and logistic regression analysis.

RESULTSThere was an inverse correlation between testosterone and plaque formation in old females (P < 0.01), while no association was found in males. Female with testosterone levels in the lowest quartile (< 0.49 nmol/L) had more risk of plaque formation (OR = 3.805, P < 0.01) after adjusted with age and other traditional factors of atherosclerosis.

CONCLUSIONTestosterone concentrations are negatively associated with carotid artery atherosclerosis in old women in Beijing, experimental and prospective studies are needed to determine the possible therapeutic role of testosterone in atherosclerosis.

Aged ; Atherosclerosis ; blood ; Carotid Arteries ; pathology ; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness ; Carotid Stenosis ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Testosterone ; blood

As a traditional Chinese medicine, the root of Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus (AMM) or A. membranaceus (AM) has been widely used in China and other Asian countries for thousands of years. Till now, the flavonoids, phenolic acids and saponins are considered as the main active components contributing to their therapeutic effect in these plants. In order to clarify the distribution and contents of these compounds in different organs of these plants, a rapid and sensitive analytical method for simultaneous determination of 25 active compounds including seven types (i.e. dihydroflavones, iso-flavane, isoflavones, flavones, pterocarpans, phenolic acid and saponins) within 10 min was established using ultra-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Then, the established method was fully validated and successfully applied to the determination of the contents of these analytes in different parts (root, rhizome, stem, leaf and flower) of AMM and AM. The results indicated that the contents of the same type of compounds in two different species plants were significantly different. Moreover, the obvious differences were also found for the distribution and con-tents of different type of compounds in five organs of the same species. The present study could provide necessary information for the rational development and utilization of AMM and AM resource.

A case is presented involving a patient with a history of pelvic fracture who experienced progressive difficulty in urination following the removal of a urethral catheter. Attempt to retain the catheter was unsuccessful, leading to an ultrasound-guided suprapubic puncture cystostomy. Subsequently, the patient developed persistent abdominal pain, distension, nausea, and vomiting. Analysis of turbid greyish-yellow thin purulent fluid obtained during abdominal paracentesis indicated the presence of peritonitis. Urgent surgical exploration revealed that the diversion tube had passed through the abdominal cavity and into the bladder. The entire abdominal cavity was filled with yellowish-thin purulent fluid. Intraoperatively, the patient presented with worsening hypotension, tachycardia, oliguria, and decreased skin temperature, suggestive of septic shock resulting from peritonitis. Prompt management, including antimicrobial therapy, hemodynamic support, and fluid resuscitation, successfully controlled the infectious symptoms, leading to complete recovery. In clinical practice, the emphasis is often placed on assessing injuries to intra-abdominal organs, whereas awareness and understanding of peritoneal injuries remain limited. As a result, postoperative peritonitis is frequently attributed solely to intra-abdominal organ damage, overlooking the potentially grave consequences of pure peritoneal injury. Therefore, it is imperative to enhance our recognition and knowledge regarding peritoneal injuries, enabling timely diagnosis and treatment to prevent the occurrence of complications.

PURPOSETraumatic optic neuropathy (TON) is a serious complication of head trauma with the incidence rate of 0.5%-5%. The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of endoscopic decompression of the optic canal for optic nerve injuries.

METHODSIn this study, 11 patients treated in our hospital from January 2009 to January 2015 with the visual loss resulting from TON were retrospectively reviewed for preoperative vision, visual evoked potential (VEP) scan, surgical approach, postoperative visual acuity, complications, and follow-up results.

RESULTSAll these patients received endoscopic decompression of the optic canal. At the 3-month follow- up, the visual acuity improvement rate of the 11 patients was 45.5%. The vision acuity of 2 cases improved from hand movement to 0.08 and 0.3 after operation. Another patient's vision acuity returned to 0.05 compared to light sensation preoperatively. Two cases had finger counting before surgery but they had a vision acuity of 0.4 and light sensation respectively after surgery. However, the other 6 cases' vision did not improve after surgery.

CONCLUSIONEndoscopic decompression of the optic canal is an effective way to cure TON. VEP could be used as an important reference for preoperative and prognosis evaluation. Operative time after trauma is only a relative condition that may affect the therapeutic effect of optic canal decompression. Poor results of this procedure may be related to the severity of the optic nerve injury.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Decompression, Surgical ; methods ; Endoscopy ; Evoked Potentials, Visual ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Optic Nerve Injuries ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Visual Acuity

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease(ASCVD)frequently results in sudden death and poses a serious threat to public health worldwide.The drugs approved for the prevention and treatment of ASCVD are usually used in combination but are inefficient owing to their side effects and single therapeutic targets.Therefore,the use of natural products in developing drugs for the prevention and treatment of ASCVD has received great scholarly attention.Andrographolide(AG)is a diterpenoid lactone compound extracted from Andrographis paniculata.In addition to its use in conditions such as sore throat,AG can be used to prevent and treat ASCVD.It is different from drugs that are commonly used in the prevention and treatment of ASCVD and can not only treat obesity,diabetes,hyperlipidaemia and ASCVD but also inhibit the pathological process of atherosclerosis(AS)including lipid accumulation,inflammation,oxidative stress and cellular abnormalities by regulating various targets and pathways.However,the pharmaco-logical mechanisms of AG underlying the prevention and treatment of ASCVD have not been corrobo-rated,which may hinder its clinical development and application.Therefore,this review summarizes the physiological and pathological mechanisms underlying the development of ASCVD and the in vivo and in vitro pharmacological effects of AG on the relative risk factors of AS and ASCVD.The findings support the use of the old pharmacological compound('old bottle')as a novel drug('novel wine')for the pre-vention and treatment of ASCVD.Additionally,this review summarizes studies on the availability as well as pharmaceutical and pharmacokinetic properties of AG,aiming to provide more information regarding the clinical application and further research and development of AG.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the renal protective effect of sodium ferulate magnetic nanoparticle targeting therapy in septic rats receives norepinephrine treatment.

METHODSFirst we constructed sodium ferulate magnetic nanoparticle, Wistar male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n = 6): control group, septic group, norepinephrine treatment group (NE treatment group) and NE plus sodium ferulate magnetic nanoparticle treatment group (NE + SF group), septic rat model was reproduced by intravenous injection of lipolysaccharide (IPS) in rats in NE treatment group norepinephrine were used to elevate the blood pressure of septic rats, in NE + SF group sodium ferulate magnetic nanoparticle was injected via tail vein, magnetic field was placed near renal region. Urinary concentration of N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), kidney injury molecule (KIM-1) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), renal tissue concentration of malonaldehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and serum concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured 3 hours after treatment.

RESULTSAfter injected LPS via tail vein, systolic blood pressure, pH value, PaO2 and PaCO2 of arterial blood of septic rats decreased significantly. Systolic blood pressure, pH value, PaO2 and PaCO2 of arterial blood returned to baseline approximately after norepinephrine treatment, sodium ferulate magnetic nanoparticle targeting therapy did not change hemodynamic effects of norepinephrine. Compared with control group, urine NAG, KIM-1 and NGAL of sepsis group were increased significantly (P < 0.01), after treatment with norepinephrine, urine NAG, KIM-1 and NGAL of NE treatment group were elevated rapidly compared with those of sepsis group (P < 0.01), combined with sodium ferulate magnetic nanoparticles targeting treatment, urine NAG, KIM-1 and NGAL of NE + SF group were decreased significantly compared with those of sepsis group and NE treatment group (P < 0.01). Compared with control group, renal tissue MDA levels of septic rats increased significantly (P < 0.01), NE treatment could notably raise MDA levels compared with those of sepsis group (P < 0.01), renal tissue MDA levels of NE + SF group were decreased significantly compared with those of sepsis group and NE treatment group (P < 0.01). Compared with control group, renal tissue activities of SOD of sepsis group and NE treatment group were decreased significantly (P < 0.01), after targeted treatment with sodium ferulate magnetic nanoparticle, renal tissue SOD activities of NE + SF group increased significantly compared with those of sepsis group and NE treatment group (P < 0.01 vs sepsis group and NE treatment group). Serum BUN, Cr, ALT, AST levels did not significantly change in each groups.

CONCLUSIONSodium ferulate magnetic nanoparticle targeting therapy can effectively decrease urine NAG, KIM-1, NGAL and renal tissue MDA level, increase tissue SOD activity of sepsis group and NE treatment group rats, thus protect renal function of septic rats.

Animals ; Coumaric Acids ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Kidney ; drug effects ; pathology ; Magnetics ; Male ; Nanoparticles ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sepsis ; pathology ; urine

This study aimed to provide data support for resource utilization of the stems and leaves of Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus(SLAM) by analyzing and evaluating the chemical constituents. The crude protein, crude fiber, and soluble saccharide of SLAM were analyzed by Kjeldahl method, filtration method, and UV-Vis spectrophotometry, respectively. The nucleosides, amino acids, flavonoids, and saponins of SLAM were analyzed by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry(UPLC-TQ-MS). Combined with principal component analysis(PCA), the quality difference of resource components of SLAM was comprehensively evaluated. The results showed that the average content of crude protein, crude fiber, total polysaccharide, and redu-cing sugar in SLAM was 5.11%, 30.33%, 11.03 mg·g~(-1), and 31.90 mg·g~(-1), respectively. Six nucleosides, 15 amino acids, 22 flavonoids, and one saponin were detected, with an average content of 1.49 mg·g~(-1), 6.00 mg·g~(-1), 1.86 mg·g~(-1), and 35.67 μg·g~(-1), respectively. The content of various types of chemical components in SLAM differed greatly in different harvesting periods and growing years. The results of PCA showed that the quality of SLAM produced in Ningxia was superior. The results can provide references for the utilization of SLAM.
Astragalus propinquus/chemistry* ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Flavonoids/analysis* ; Plant Leaves/chemistry* ; Amino Acids ; Saponins/analysis*